Rents across England and Wales are now 15.2% higher than at the last general election in May 2010, say LSL firms Your Move and Reeds Rains.

This is faster than inflation. Over the same period since May 2010, consumer price inflation has amounted to 11.6%. This leaves a 3.6% increase in rents after the effects of inflation – or the equivalent of a 0.7% real terms increase each year over the last Parliament.

Rents now stand at £768 per month as of March. Annual rent rises have accelerated to the fastest pace in two years, with the average rent across England and Wales now up 3.7% over the last 12 months.

Rents are now just £2 away from the all-time record high of £770 per month, set last October.

Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move, said: “Since 2010 the private rented sector has absorbed over a million extra households.

“With social housing in decline, alongside a parallel decay in the number of people owning their own home with a mortgage, private renting has stood in to fill the gap.

“However, this sector is carrying the weight of the housing crisis – and that will mean faster rent rises in future if supply doesn’t keep up.

“Over the next five years politicians of all stripes can’t just hope that this problem will go away – Britain needs more homes.”